Two Intersections

After a stimulating small group discussion at Hunter College, I walked by a homeless woman on the way to our ministry’s offices. What struck me about this woman was that she was reading a Bible. Curious, and wondering if I could offer her any resources from the various shelters and kitchens that serve our city’s underserved, I approached her and asked what part of the Bible she was reading.

She glared at me: “No.”

Obviously, I was an unwelcome intrusion in her reading. I left – but not before sneaking a glance at her Bible. It was open to the book of Judges, chapter 7.

I’m not sure what she was getting out of her reading, but I hope it was good.

photo credit: Bas Scheffers

Later on, in the subway, an Asian American girl asked me for directions to 23rd Street. Asking for directions isn’t unusual here, but what made this stand out to me was that she deliberately didn’t ask any of the other people (none of them Asian) who walked by her before I did: she waited to ask me, another Asian American woman.

Why did she ask me? Why not any of the four people who passed her just before I did?

It got me thinking: in a place as tensely diverse as New York City, people are naturally going to gravitate toward communities where they feel most comfortable – and that often implies groups of people with the same or similar cultural background. The more you feel understood, (and the less you have to explain about yourself), the more you feel at home. Maybe that’s why we have such distinct ethnic communities in the city.

What implications does this have for us, as we seek to give every person a chance to hear and respond to the story of Jesus?

Here’s what I think. Of course, limiting a Christian group to people of only a certain background is silly: we’d miss out on learning from and experiencing the true fullness of the community of believers. It would also be not very politically correct… not that our goal is to be P.C. On the other hand, striving for cultural diversity in a Christian group is nice – and certainly a reflection of what it will be like in heaven – but it won’t necessarily make the Gospel story hit home the way it needs to in order for lives to be radically changed from the inside out.

Instead, we need both aspects: a contextualized (not watered-down) Gospel message that a culture really understands and is transformed by, concurrent with a vision for moving beyond cultural boundaries to share the message with those who haven’t yet heard.

Thoughts? Ideas? Opinions? Let’s hear ‘em.

Success and Identity

WSJ.com – You Might as Well Face It: You’re Addicted to Success — Click to read article

One of the interesting things I’m learning from church of all places are the functions/purposes of cities.  There are many functions and one of which is culture producing.  Compared to rural locals, cities are full of people with diverse ideas, methodologies, and personalities that are only bound to produce/improve/create ideas and sharpen people’s skill sets.  Cities add to culture via personal and communal competition – by the very nature of being in a place where there are a ton of people who are smart or great, if not smarter or greater than you.

One of the cultures out there is how career success is used to gain identity.  This is one of the cultures that are propagated on the college campus via teaching system, media, and personal interaction.  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for people being successful in what they do, I just think it’s dangerous to let that define who you are.

A good friend of mine sent the article above to me and this was his comment:

This is one of the most depressingly secular articles I’ve read in a while. A more appropriate title would be ‘If Your Idol Has Failed You, Find Another’.

This article suggests that the center of one’s life should not be ‘career success’, but rather moralism and relationships, which are, according to the writer, things “that can’t be stripped away.” But what if we can’t live up to our own moral standards? Or what if our family and friends let us down? What/whom can we cling to then???

Being a psych major, it was hard to sit through class sometimes because the remedies offered to help deal with issues were mainly ‘band-aids’ to heal the problem.   (One of the ways is mentioned in the article).

We are all in a position to help create and shape culture.  The gospel means ‘good news’ .  So how good is it to you?